Circular-knitting machine.



RIW. SCOTT.

CIRCULAR xmmmdmcmm.

APPUCATlGN FILED JULY 14} I915.

' 1,23%,623. lmentea D070. 9,1919.

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EQBERT W. $COTT, OF BOSTQN, MASSACHUSETTfi, A$SIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMEN'IS, TO SCOTT 6,; WELLIAMS, INCGEPQBATED, A CORPORATION 05MASSACHUSETTS.

CIRCULAEJZNITTING MACHINE.

' Application filed July 14,, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

lie it known that l, Bonnier W. Score, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Boston. in the county of Sufiollr and State orlvlassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements infiircularlinih ting Machines, of which the following a specification.-j-

I My invention'relates to knittin machines,

one object being to provide improved and simplified. devices forknitting line gage fabrics, and stockings having reciprocally knit heelsand. toes. ()ther objects are to provide for making such fabrics by theoperation. of needles having relatively long hooks in existing hosieryknitting machines by enabling them to employ for rotary andreciproeatory knitting such needles, or" which one species having springhooks and latches is disclosed in my Letters Patent No. 1,097,732, datedMay26, 1914. l have herein illustrated my invention. as comprisingchanges in a latch'needle knitting machine of the type described andclaimed in my application Serial No. 746,070 filed February 3, 1913,(Letters Patent No. 1,152,850, Sep tember 7, 1915) but my invention isindependent of the particular machine in which it may be utilized, onefeature thereof being provision oi means for adapting existinglatch-needle machines of various types to make fabrics of a superiorcharacter and. finer gage. In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 isdiagram development of the cam ring and yarn guides showing a needle andpaths taken by the needles during rotary and reciprocatory knitting;

Fig. 72 is a diagram plan illustrating the relation of the yarn feeddevices to the knitting cams.

f fhen attempting to knit fabrics of fine gage on ordinary latchiiediesofthe prior art spaced closely, the needles produce fabric permanentlyof too 'reat a width, which can not be altered by finishing operations.

The fabric of reciprocally knit heels and toes, as one instance, liespermanently too wide relatively to the size oi. the series of needlesupon which it is knit, remaining too large aft er finishing even whenthe ankle and. foot can be stretched in length and shrunk in width tothe desired extent. By

use of needles oi the sort indicated with Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented llec. 5E

Serial No. 39.887.

means for operating them and. means for feeding yarn now to bedescribed, I have successfully reduced the width. of the fabric,including the heels and toes, relatively to the size of the series ofneedles. The drawing shows, for purposesof illustration only, a machineequipped with the needles 1 of my, said patent, having the usualoperating butts, comparatively long spring hooks 3, and short latches5., situated at a relatively large distance from the tip of the needle.

But any needle having a comparatively long hook, whether rigid or ofspring metal, is within the scope of my invention;

Yarn changing yarirguides F F, F F,

F preferably similar to those of my said, application are, in. anydesired number, movable in a slot in a latch-guard 550 closed at thebottom, as by a throat-plate 559. Said yarirguides may be of anyconstruction permittin one at a time to be removed into an operativeposition such as shown for guide F I I The needle cams, see Fig. 1, maycomprise a leading stitch cam 7 and a following stitch earn 6, a topcenter cam 8 and a bottom center earn 9 defining between them a flat orlevel path for needles about to receive yarn, each cain when leadingadvancing the needles at its top or back to clear their latches, andwhen. following retracting the needles at surface a. or Z) constitutingthe active stitchdrawingf slope oi the stitch cam. The machine isprovided with usual devices for causing relative rotation between theseries oi needles and the needle cams and yarn guides, and at timesrelative reciprocation between said parts, and with narrowing andwidening devices to make heel and toe pockets. Preferred devices forthese purposes are disclosed in my said application.

For a given length of stitch drawn by such needles receding through anold loop detained against movement with the needle in any manner, as atthe plane P usually defined by movable web-holders (not shown), theplace for feeding yarn under thehooks of the needles is carried fartherbeneathsaid plane than in the case of ordinary latch-needles, and thetip of the hook is elevated farther above loops detained at thewelnholdcrs to clear the old loops beneath the hook or latch. Thedistance from the tips of the needles to the points of the open latches5, when the needles of my said patent are in use, may be nearly the sameas that between tip and point of open latch of ordinary latch needles.the necessary movement of the needlesto knit in this case being of thesame extent and kind as in the case of ordinary needles. Knittingcams ofprior inachines, such as those'illustrated may thus be employed withoutchange, but the place at which yarn can be supplied operatiyely to theneedles is, as a consequence of the length between latch and tip, muchnearer the knocking-over plane P, and is narrower, the form of the waveof movement being the same, than is the case when ordinary latchneedlesare employed,

Needles 1 traveling between cams 8 and 9' present their place forfeedingyarn beneath open hook'fi, as indicated between lines 1), 7) Fig.1, on a level above plane P at and following llllQ'l)OSltl0li-0f thefirst needle to move down the stitch cam. I provide for feeding the yarnwith enough lead to lie against a considerable number of said needles atsaid level and between the lines 7), 17 a wrapping of yarn lying uponthe needles between a needle completely beneath plane P and the yarnguide at a relatively tiat angle to the horizontal. The point of hook 3of said first needle to move downward will then be landed over said yarnby its movement while in the middle of a series of needles against thefaces of each of which the yarn lies, and by which the yarn frictionallysupported. The number of needles to receive the yarn 1n advance of 'thefirst needle to move to land its-hook over the yarn may be increasedbeyond the number necessary to insure operation withb out detriment totheoperation, so long as a separation or lead of the yarn-feeding pointfrom the first needle moving down a stitch cam is sufficient to insureaccurate landing under the books. It will be understood that the minimumdegree of lead for the-yarn may vary with the spacing and gage of theneedles, with the dimensions of their hooks, with the kind or tension ofthe yarn, the number of separate yarns fed together, the distance fromthe face of the needles of the yarn delivery opening, and other variableconditions apparent to those skilled in the art, but in all cases theminimum lead will be such as to lay the yarn upon the needles asdescribed and will exceed that usual for short-hook needles workingunder similar conditions.

In prior machines needles moving in either direction operatively takeyarn from the guide last passed by the needles, but by reason of theincreased lead to be provided to secure feeding the long-hooked needles,-a yarn fed from a position much nearer the following stitch cam thanthe plane AA central between the stitch cams will not be taken. I have"therefore arranged the yarn guide F for the heel and toe yarn or yarnsfed during reciprocation in said plane, to deliver its yarn directlyfrom a yarn bore 7' therein, whereby during reciprocation the yarn fromsaid guide enters the needles at sufficient lead with respect toknitting waves both atcam 6 and cam 7. I prefer to bring'about thisrelative .position of the yarn guide F by shifting the cam-carrier aboutthe center of. the machine, as shown, so that radial plane A-A at thecams is thrown out of parallel with the yarn-guides, and to coincidewith the active end of the last-passed guide F in the direction forrotary knitting. The narrowing pickers 650 are moved with. the cams,"

but the latch-ring 550, guides F F operating devices therefore, andother parts may remain as in the prior machines.

The relation of the knitting waves to the yarn guides shown in Fig. 1 bysolid and broken lines and corresponding arrows.

The yarns from yarn guides F F F and F are in use during rotation only,the

cam (S then being the retracting cam. Yarns from any one of said guldesreeving either from their yarn bores or from an edge of plate 559 are ata lead greater than yarn from guide F and are operatively positioned.

One consequence of shifting the knitting cams with respect to theirseries of yarnguidcs is to bring the gap or throat in the latch-ring forsaid guides opposite a part' of the advancing wave caused by cam 7 inthe direction for rotation. The latches 5 are prevented from openin inthe open throat by a thin extension 55 on" the latch-guard surface,which extension. 1

may be a part of plate Such of the yarn-guides as stand behind saidextension. when down and in operation enter their yarns between therapidly moving needles at their tips, here extending well above plateand by the movement of the needles said yarns are swept to the level forproper feeding at plate 559.

\Vhat I claim is: i

1. A knitting machine having in combination latch'needles with longhooks stitch cams adapted for rotary and reciprocatory knitting. andmeans for feeding yitxil from ISO eas es and reciprocatory knitting andhaving in combination needles-having relatively longv liooks,' leadingiand following reciprocal stitch cams, and means for guiding yarn to saidneedles from a point near the needles near the plane of maximumretraction in the needles caused by said'stitch cams and a substantialdistance in advance of any of the needles being actuated by thefollowing stitch cam when knitting in either direction, whereby the yarnlies relatively nearto said plane and under the hooks of a number ofneedles in advance of those being actuated by said stitch cam.

3. A knitting machine adapted for knitting upon a series of needleshaving long hooks and latches defining a place for feeding said needlesremoved from their tips and narrow in extent, comprising in combinationan advancing or clearing cam and a following stitch cam, cams formaintaining said needles at a level between said advancing and stitchcams, and means for guiding yarn in a plane intercepting said place forfeeding and nearly parallel to the position of the places for feeding ofa series of needles at said level, whereby the yarn contacts with saidplaces for feeding of a plurality of said needles during their mainte-.

nance at said level.

, 4:. A knitting machine adapted for rotary and reciprocatory knittingand provided with needles having long thin hooks and relatively shortlatches, and leading and following stitch-can'is, in combination withmeans for feedlng a yarn for recip'rocatory knitting from a guidesubstantially midwayv between said stitch cams and from a point in ornear the level defined by the open latches to lie against needles priorto their actuation by said cams, and means for feedin other yarns forrotary knitting from points in said level in advance of said guide andatdifi'erent distances from said following stitch cam.

5. A circular knitting machine having in combination a latch guardmember having a surface concentric with the rotary elemerit, a slot insaid member central upon a radial plane, parallel yarn-changing yarnguides working in said slot, needles having long hooks and latches andreciprocal stitch- I cams symmetrically placed with respect tocombination latch needles having long hooks and cams therefor having anadvancing surface for clearing the needle latches operative ahead of aretracting or stitch cam, a latch guard member having a slot'therein, aseries of yarn-changing yarn guides in said slot-some of which whenoperatively positioned are opposite needl s while they are in theposition to which they are advanced by said advancing surface, and anextension of said latch-guard member at said slot covering the latchesand exposing the tips of said advanced needles, to receive yarn betweenadjacent advanced needles from an operatively positioned yarn-guide.

8. A knitting machine adapted for reciprocatory knitting and for rotaryknitting in one direction, and having needles having spring beards andlatches, leading and following reciprocal stitch cams, the leading cambeing adapted to advance the needles from their normal position, andmeans for said needles from a point near, the needles and substantially,in advance of the following stitch cam, 1n each reciprocal direction, incombination with a sense of yarn guides adapted for yarn-changing havingyarn delivery openings situated when active in advance, in the'dlrectionfor rotary knitting, of said yarn feeding means, and at a part of thewave in the needles caused bye-aid leading stitch cam, said yarn-guidesbeing adapt ed to enter their yarns between adjacent needles while saidneedles are in said wave. In testimony whereof, I have signed my name tothis specification.

' ROBERT W SCOTT. Witness:-

RUTH A. Horse.

